SRILANKA win 1st ODI VS NZ in Compaq cup 2009

Colombo
Sept. 8: Small totals can be deceptive. New Zealand learnt so the hard way at the Premadasa Stadium here on Tuesday, going down to Sri Lanka by 97 runs in the triangular series opener.
After their bowlers had restricted the Lankans to a moderate 216/7, the Kiwi batsmen failed yet again to capitalise and allowed the match to slip through their grasp.
The target of 217 was always going to be tough for the visitors once they slid to 7/3 in just five overs, finally folding up for 119 in 36.1 overs.
The victory almost ensures the hosts passage into the the tri-series final.
The Lankan bowlers took a cue from their Black Caps counterparts and stuck to a tight line, making it difficult for the batsmen.
After Thilan Samaraweera’s 104, Nuwan Kulasekara reaped a rich harvest for bowling wicket to wicket and Thushara complemented him. Taking the baton from the duo, Lasith Malinga, slammed the doors on New Zealand with a three-wicket burst — Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Nathan McCullum — in the 19th over. Malinga later disturbed last-man Ian Butler’s stumps to finish with 4/28. Grant Elliot top-scored for the Kiwis with 41.
Earlier, a rearguard action by Samaraweera, who scored a memorable maiden century on a track that required plenty of patience, helped the hosts recover to 216/7 in their stipulated 50 overs.
Samaraweera (124b, 10x4) found a partner in Angelo Mathews (51, 61b, 4x4), who was ready to grind it out before stepping on the gas.
Relatively new to international cricket, with just 31 One Day Internationals between them, the middle order bats showed great restraint, something seasoned pros like Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena had failed to display during the match.
Samaraweera at first concentrated on working the ball around and it was only in the 40th over did he decide to go after the bowling. The strategy worked with Mathews too following him and he brought up the century partnership in 114 balls.
Their 130-run stand for the sixth wicket was ended by a Shane Bond yorker. Samaraweera carried on till he was castled by Ian Butler. The hosts scored 73 runs in the last 10 overs.
A day before the match Sangakkara had talked about adjusting to conditions, but the hosts seemed to struggled from the very first ball.
After winning the toss and electing to bat the advantage was always on their side, as the Premadasa track favours teams that bat first. The hosts crawled to 38/3 in 15 overs and immediately lost skipper Sangakkara.
Earlier, New Zealand surprisingly drafted in Tuffey, who is a part of the Champions Trophy squad but was not a part of the tri-series, in the playing XI.

Brief Scores
Sri Lanka 216/7 in 50 overs (Samaraweera 104, Mathews 51; Bond 3/43) bt New Zealand 119 in 36.1 overs (Elliott 41; Malinga 4/28, Kulasekara 2/18).

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160 Jet flights cancelled, pilots continue 'sick leave'

For the second consecutive day, Jet Airways flights were disrupted following an ongoing agitation by pilots, leading to cancellation of 160 flights across the country on Wednesday, an airline official said.

Many pilots continued to report sick on Wednesday despite a Bombay High Court order on Tuesday evening restraining them from resorting to any form of strike in the country's largest private airline.

Many passengers, however, had already cancelled their flights with Jet Airways. So there was relatively less chaos at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the pilots on strike got support from the National Union of Seafarers of India. The general secretary, Mr Abdul G. Sarang, said early on Wednesday that until the issue was resolved, the NUSI would not utilise the services of Jet Airways to transfer their members all over the country and to other parts of the world.

The Jet pilots are expected to meet the director general of civil aviation, a senior civil aviation ministry official said on Wednesday. The directorate has asked states to see if it is necessary to invoke the Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) if the agitation continues.

The government is expected to meet the Jet Airways officials sometime later in the day. It could also give clearance to the national carrier Air India to add flights to carry Jet Airways passengers.

Jet Airways officials have said that they have been able to maintain their international operations. However, it had to cancel 16 international flights on Tuesday after the pilots reported sick.

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US overlooked Pak nuke program, bomb was ready in 1983: Khan

Pakistan's nuclear program was overlooked by the US in its initial year as Islamabad got involved in the Afghan war against Soviet Union, which resulted in making the bomb in a quick period of six years, A.Q. Khan the maligned Pakistani nuclear scientist has said.

"I maintain that the war had provided us with space to enhance our nuclear capability," the Pakistan nuclear scientist said in an interview to an Urdu Pakistani television channel.

"The credit (for the nuclear bomb) goes to me and my team, because it was a very difficult task, which was next to impossible. But given the US and European pressure on our program, it is true that had the Afghan war not taken place at that time, we would not have been able to make the bomb as early as we did," Mr Khan told the 'Aaj' news television.

The interview with Khan, who was recently released from house arrest, was broadcast in Karachi on August 31. It was helpfully translated from Urdu by the Directorate of National Intelligence's Open Source Center.

The translated interview has not been publicly released, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

Mr Khan, who was put under house arrest by the previous Musharraf regime, from which he was released early this year said, Pakistan was ready to test a nuclear weapon just six years after it first began to enrich uranium.

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Air India comes to Team India's rescue

Air India came to the rescue of the Sri Lanka-bound Indian cricket team, left in a lurch after a pilots' strike crippled the services of Jet Airways which was originally supposed to take the side to the island nation for a one-day tri-series.

They were supposed to fly by the Jet Airways whose services have been hit by the ongoing strike by its pilots, an Air India spokesman said.

Air India will operate a special flight from Chennai at 1100hrs on Thursday to reach Bengaluru where it will pick up players including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and R.P. Singh playing for the Air India team in the BCCI corporate trophy before leaving for Colombo.

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S Korean cops arrest man accused of raping 125 women

Seoul: The South Korean police said on Tuesday they have arrested a man accused of raping 125 women over the past nine years.

The 39-year-old delivery man, identified only by his family name Cha, is accused of some 200 rapes involving 125 women, some of whom were subjected to multiple assaults.

The police in Gyeonggi province surrounding Seoul said the offences took place between July 2000 and July 2009.

The suspect was traced after being pictured on closed-circuit TV.

He is also accused of stealing jewellery worth around 40 million won (32,000 dollars) from his victims, who were mostly young and living alone.

The police said the suspect, who lives in the city of Paju north of Seoul, has been married since 2001 and has a daughter of pre-school age.

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UK racial attack: 3 teens charged with killing Indian

London: Three teenage boys were on Tuesday charged with the murder of 67-year-old man of Indian origin Ekram ul Haque, a retired careworker, in a racial attack in south London.

Haque died on Monday evening succumbing to his injuries, a week after the shocking race attack by a gang of schoolboys outside a mosque in south London on August 31. The three boys aged 12, 14 and 15, accused of the murder charge, appeared before the Croydon Youth Court on Tuesday.

Kolkata-born Haque was brutally battered by a group of teenagers outside the Idara-e-Jafferiya mosque in church Lane, Tooting.

At the time, he was waiting with his three-and-a-half year old granddaughter Mariam for a lift to go back home after praying at the mosque. The three accused will appear at the Sutton Youth court again on October 6.

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Gold hits all-time high price

Mumbai, Sept. 8: Gold’s rally to above $1,000 an ounce on Tuesday threatened to hurt demand in India during the busy festival season, but fears of further rises could also ignite panic buying from jewellers in the world’s top consumer.
Gold rose above $1,000 an ounce for the first time since February as investors sought a safe haven due to the dollar’s weakness and worries about the sustainability of the global economic recovery.
Spot gold rose to $1,007.45 an ounce, its highest since March 2008. US gold futures for Decem-ber delivery rose to $1,009.4 an ounce, before easing to $1,006.80 an oun-ce, versus Friday’s close at $996.70 an ounce.
India’s gold demand normally rises between August and October, when consumers buy bullion for auspicious reasons to celebrate major festivals.
“Demand will fall more,” Mr Suresh Hundia, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, said. “Only those who are short will buy at these prices.”
“During the festivals, people will pick up what their requirement is. There won’t be an excess of buying,” said Mr Prithviraj Kothari, the director at Riddisiddhi Bullions.
India, which accounted for more than 20 per cent of global demand for gold jewellery in 2008, has seen a steady decline in demand since bullion first powered to $1,000 an ounce in February, which also sent local futures to a record high at Rs 16,040 per 10 grams.

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SBI eyes 30% growth in Q2

Mumbai

Sept. 8: The State Bank of India (SBI) expects that its profit would grow at a rate of 30 per cent in the current quarter.
Speaking with mediapersons on the sidelines of a conference organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (Ficci) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) on Tuesday in Mumbai, Mr O.P. Bhatt, the chairman of SBI, said: “We are on the growth track and the disbursement of retail loans would double during this quarter (second quarter of the fiscal 2010) compared with the same period last year. For achieving the GDP growth rate of above six per cent, a strong support of the banking system is a must.”
Mr Bhatt said: “About 200 years ago, the cumulative share of India and China in global GDP was 60 per cent and this is going to happen once again in future. The Indian banking system’s biggest advantage is that it has one of the lowest transaction cost. The biggest hurdle is the smaller scale of operations.”
He said: “Though SBI is the largest bank in India, it can’t cater the big Indian corporates alone. We need at least three to four banks that would be five times bigger than SBI. To compare with the China it has four banks that are in the top 20 in the world while India has none. The largest Chinese bank is 10 times bigger than the SBI.”
Banks need to consolidate to meet the funding needs of the economy, he added.

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Karzai headed for win

KABUL

Sept. 8: Afghan election returns released on Tuesday put incumbent Hamid Karzai on course for a single round victory, but a UN-backed watchdog said it had found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” and ordered a partial recount.
The latest data from the Independent Election Commission effectively put Mr Karzai and the Afghan election authorities on a collision course with an international community increasingly sceptical of the outcome of an election it paid for. With 91.6 per cent of polling stations counted, the Independent Election Commission reported Mr Karzai ahead with 54.1 per cent of the vote to 28.3 per cent for his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
It was the first time the commission had reported Mr Karzai on course to exceed the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a second round, and radically alters the calculations of Western diplomats keen to ensure a credible outcome.
The results are final only after they are certified by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), a separate body led by a Canadian and mainly appointed by the United Nations. For the first time, it went public with accusations of fraud.
“In the course of its investigations, the ECC has found clear and convincing evidence of fraud in a number of polling stations,” the body said in a statement.
It ordered the IEC to recount results from polling stations where one candidate received more than 95 per cent of the vote or where more votes were cast than the expected maximum of 600. The election commission said it had set aside results from more than 600 of the country’s 25,000 polling stations because of concerns over irregularities.
Hours before the results were released, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle outside a Nato military base at Kabul’s main airport killing three civilians, the capital’s worst attack since the vote and a further sign of deteriorating security

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US assures Pak nuke arsenal safe

Washington, Sept. 8: As fresh fears are being voiced about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, the United States has said it feels that the security arrangement are “sufficient and adequate.”
The American defence secretary Robert Gates also said that Islamabad had given “insurances” about the safety net for its nuclear arsenal.
Washington is “quite comfortable that the security arrangements for the Pakistani nuclear capabilities are sufficient and adequate,” Mr Gates said in an interview to the Qatar-based Al Jazzera news agency.
Asked if the Americans have guarantees to cover the safety of Pakistani nuclear weapons, the US defence secretary said “it’s based both on our own understanding of the security arrangements that the Pakistanis have for their weapons and their capabilities, their laboratories and so on.”
“We have also been given insurances by the Pakistanis on this,” he said.
Asked about whether he was 100 per cent satisfied that the Pakistani intelligence had stopped lending a hand of support to Taliban, Mr Robert Gates sought to side-step the issue by merely saying that Washington and Islamabad were working for the same goals

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US embassy plans spur rumours, concern in Pak

ISLAMABAD

Sept. 8: America’s plans for a major expansion of its diplomatic presence in Pakistan, including the possible takeover of a bombed luxury hotel near the Taliban heartland, have heightened tensions and bred rumours in a population rife with anti-US sentiment.
Among the tales being floated: That 1,000 US Marines will land in the capital, that Americans will set up a Guantanamo-style prison and that the infamous security contractor once called Blackwater will come in and wreak havoc.
The frenzy, much of it whipped up by the media and Islamist political parties, shows the difficulties for the US as it seeks to increase its engagement in a country where a flourishing militant movement is threatening the war effort in neighbouring Afghanistan. The US says it needs to expand mainly to disburse billions of dollars more in aid to Pakistan, an impoverished nation of 175 million people.
Pakistanis tend to view US motives with suspicion, pointing to a history of American support for the country’s past military rulers and involvement in its internal affairs, which they say has stunted the economy and democratic aspirations.
Others believe the US is out to end Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, a source of domestic pride.
“Even an illiterate person knows that the Americans are against our nuclear programme, and they will not miss any opportunity to destroy the nuclear facilities,” said Humayoun Qaiser, 23, a student at an Islamic university in Islamabad.
In recent weeks, several newspapers have published unconfirmed reports that 1,000 US Marines will be posted at the US embassy in Islamabad — which would be a significant jump from the nine there now. US officials say at most the number may reach 20.
Marine security guards are routine at US missions abroad.
The head of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami, which has demonstrated against the expansion, recently claimed that the US also plans to build a Guantanamo-like prison, according to a newspaper report.
The US denies the claim.
Rumours aside, the embassy does plan to reconstruct the buildings on its 38-acre compound and acquire an additional 18 acres, much of which will be used for apartments, embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said.
About 1,450 employees work for the embassy: 1,000 Pakistanis, 250 Americans posted to the site and another 200 Americans on short-term assignments.
The plan is to add around 400 people, including about 200 more posted US staffers, Mr Snelsire said. The major reason for the growth is a proposal in Congress to triple nonmilitary aid to Pakistan, he said.

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17-year-old girl hacked for resisting rape attempt

Lakhimpur: A 17-year-old girl was hacked by her cousin brother and his two accomplices after she resisted a rape attempt, the official sources said here on Tuesday.

"Saroj Kumar Pasi along with his two friends attempted to abuse the modesty of his cousin Neelam in Nanakpur village last evening and when she resisted the move they hacked her to death," the additional superintendent of police, Mr Ramakant Prasad, said.

The girl was all alone at her residence, when the incident took place, he said.

"An FIR had been lodged by Pushpendra, the brother of the deceased and all the three accused Saroj Kumar, Prem and Vinod had been arrested," the ASP said.

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Ladakh DM claims Chinese intrusion

Srinagar, Sept. 8: Chinese troops entered a part of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir in January this year and retreated after threatening shepherds to vacate the area or face the consequences, according to the district magistrate, Mr Ajeet Kumar Sahu.
Mr Sahu conveyed this to the divisional commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir on January 4, saying this was brought to his knowledge by shepherds and villagers living close to the international border.
The district magistrate then deputed a sub-divisional magistrate, who confirmed that Chinese soldiers had warned shepherds on the Indian side of the border. “They (Chinese) claimed the area belonged to China,” the district magistrate’s letter said.
The defence ministry officials here are not ready to confirm the district magistrate’s version. But, army sources admit that some Chinese soldiers entered the Indian side of the border and painted some stones and rocks red.
India and China fought a war in 1962 and they have still not resolved their border row.

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Rahul scraps Youth Congress magazine

New Delhi

Sept. 8: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have scrapped the proposed magazine of the Youth Congress after he found the presentation of the draft magazine suggestive of becoming a “platform of breeding sycophancy within the party”.
Sources said that Mr Gandhi expressed displeasure on the draft magazine of the Youth Congress.
The draft, which included articles written by senior Congress leaders along with profiles of other party stalwarts, was shown to Mr Gandhi by the editor-in-chief of the proposed magazine, Ms Chainika Oniyal, and four other members of the editorial board — Chandan Yadav, Amit Jogi, Pradyut Burman and Mrinal Pant.
“Mr Gandhi was unhappy the way the magazine project was dealt with. He found the draft magazine looking like a platform to breed sycophancy within the party,” sources said, adding, “He scrapped the magazine proposal for now, saying that he does not want the youth voice to become another party mouthpiece like Congress Sandesh.”
Mr Gandhi is learnt to have told the Youth Congress leaders that he would revisit the magazine project on a later date with a professional approach.
“The Congress general secretary expressed his wish that he wants the proposed magazine to be brought out by more competent people and professionals having experience in the field of journalism.
The magazine will be a non-profit making venture,” sources added.
A member of the editorial board of the proposed magazine, however, said on the condition of anonymity that the proposal has been rather put on hold and not scrapped. “Mr Gandhi does not want to rush in with the magazine. He wants more serious approach.
He has indicated that the magazine should be apolitical and focus more on social issues.
Though there will be coverage of politics, it has to be objective so that the youth gets attracted towards politics,” added one of the editors of the magazine.

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High literacy rate must for growth: PM

New Delhi
Sept. 8: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the ambitious Saakshar Bharat Mission on International Literacy Day which aims to raise the literacy levels in the country to 80 per cent from the existing level of 64 per cent by 2012. While launching the scheme, the Prime Minister stated that the plan particularly targeted women in the country as the government sees them as force multipliers in the fight against illiteracy.
The scheme seeks to reduce the current literacy gap of 21 per cent to 10 per cent between men and women. To accomplish this, the programme aims to cover 70 million adults, of which 60 million will be women.
“Education empowers. Education liberates. Education ennobles. Education helps nations to march forward, helps them to progress socially and economically. And literacy is the first step in imparting education,” he said.
He pointed out that literacy was central to the success of all progressive programmes and legislations like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Right to Information Act, the Rural Health Mission, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the National Mid-day Meal Programme. “In fact, infrastructure development in the economic sector and female literacy in the social sector are two very critical factors that impede India’s steady climb to a higher and sustainable level of growth and development,” the PM said.
He pointed out that female literacy was absolutely necessary to empower the Indian woman in her everyday struggle in dealing with deprivations.
Union minister Kapil Sibal said that an unacceptably large number of country’s citizens were not enjoying the fruits of socio-economic development because of their literacy status.

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Memorial for YSR at crash site not feasible

Hyderabad
Sept. 8: The state government’s proposal to erect a memorial for the late chief minister, Dr Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, at the site of the accident in the Nallamalla forests is likely to run into rough weather on two counts.
The area falls in a protected wildlife sanctuary that is home to the highly protected tigers, and it is also inhabited by Maoist groups.
The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, who chaired a cabinet meeting immediately after swearing in the cabinet, had announced that the government would construct a memorial in Hyderabad as well as at the accident spot in the Nallamalla hills.
Another memorial is also planned on YSR’s Idupulapaya estate near Pulivendla.
The place where the Bell 430-helicopter crashed, killing Dr Rajasekhar Reddy and four others, at Pavuralatippa, 30 km from Atmakur, is located in the core tiger area known as Gundla Brahmeswara Wildlife Sanctuary.
Tigers, panthers, sloth bears, wild dogs,
hyenas, jungle cats, langurs, bonnet monkeys, marsh crocodiles, pangolin, sambar, nilgai, chowsinga, chinkara and mouse deer are some of the species found here.
Sources in the forest department said all types of construction activity is banned in notified sanctuaries. “It’s true the accident spot is located in a notified tiger sanctuary, the Gundla Brahmeswara Wildlife Sanctuary. All construction activity is banned in a tiger reserve unless permitted by the central government and the Central Board for Wildlife,” said Mr A. V. Joseph, additional principal conservator of forests (Admn).
The cabinet, it seems took a hasty decision. If a memorial is constructed here roads will have to be laid and basic facilities such as a guest house, lighting arrangements, drinking water and other facilities that are not permitted in reserve forest areas, will have to be provided.

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Raju gets special treatment

Hyderabad

Sept. 8: The former chief of Satyam computers, Mr Ramalinga Raju, is getting VIP treatment at the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) where he was admitted after suffering a mild heart attack on Monday. According to the officials at NIMS he has been shifted to the VIP section of the Intensive Critical Care Unit (ICCU).
The officials added that apart from heart ailments, the 55-year-old Raju is suffering from Hepatitis C and hypertension.
Officials at the ICCU said that several tests were performed on Raju at various city hospitals in the last three months.
The Nims hospital medical superintendent, Dr N. Satyanarayana, also confirmed that the disgraced founder of Satyam computers was diagnosed with hypertension and Hepatitis C.
When asked about the reason for Mr Raju getting VIP treatment at Nims, the doctor refused to comment on the issue.

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152 MLAs back Jagan as CM

Hyderabad
Sept. 8: The former home minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, joined the “Jagan as Chief Minister” campaign on Tuesday.
The media had hitherto reported that Mr Jana Reddy was not interested in projecting anyone as a Chief Ministerial candidate as he wanted to support a nominee chosen by the party high command.
Mr Jana Reddy called on Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalakshmi on Tuesday at the late chief minister’s residence in Begumpet. He handed over a letter of support to request the high command to choose Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy as the next Chief Minister.
Another former minister, Mr J.C. Diwakar Reddy, also gave his letter of support to Mr Jagan.
With this, 152 out of the 154 Congress MLAs are supporting Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. The former minister and Sanathnagar MLA, Mr M. Shashidhar Reddy and the Khairatabad MLA, Mr P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy have not signed any letter so far supporting Mr Jagan Mohan.
Meanwhile, the APSRTC chairman and former minister, Mr M. Sathyanarayana Rao, issued a statement urging the party high command to select Mr Jagan Mohan for the top post.
‘With all my seniority and experience in the party for over five decades I have come to a conclusion that in this hour of crisis, the Congress high command should nominate Mr Jagan Mohan as the Chief Minister,” he said.

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